All Forum Posts by: Jessi Hill

If your Realtor wouldn't do this for you in a heartbeat then you need another one. My realtor will tell me she thinks I'm crazy but she's still happy to submit a low offer rather than no offer. She puts lotsa offers on for me that get declined. However, she also benefits from the fact that I do the majority of the work finding properties and researching. I would say though, it's better to make a realistic offer. What do you think the property is actually worth, then subtract a bit and make an offer. If the house is falling down and taxes are delinquent then by all means offer half. Also, I assume you're offering cash and with no contingencies. I would get annoyed as a seller with a lowball offer with a bunch of contingencies.

Super cute! You got this!! You can check out my first flip rehab story I posted a few days ago. It was a 1918 bungalow. :) good luck! Don't hesitate to ask questions!

Raquel Pea I'm not crafty at all!! In fact I would never endeavor to redo cabinets for my own use! But when it saves a thousand off a rehab I'm all over it. I started by asking some crafty friends and then pinterested. I literally spent hours upon hours googling "bungalow color schemes" "diy cabinet makeovers" and the like. There are a ton of ways to save money on lower end flips like this one. We bought our counters from ikea. And we used laminate floor tile for the backsplash (after seeing more expensive versions of the same thing at HD). In a house in this price range we couldn't afford all the expensive upgrades so we picked stuff that looked great and reused what we could.

Happy Bday Joshua Dorkin

Awesome. Your design, color choices and staging was awesome!

Hi Ashley! Welcome! I'm in Tampa and just finished my first flip and working on first rental. Feel free to add me and let me know if you have any questions I can help with! Good luck!

Thanks guys!!! And I did take the kittens first. I'm always bringing home boxes of kittens from my RE prospecting. This wasn't a foreclosure. Actually it had been purchased as a foreclosure for 10k a year or so before I bought it. They had redone the electricity, hot water and AC. They made it livable (kinda) but it was still a disaster. We bought it for cash. We had to level the foundation, treat for termites, and add plumbing for a bathroom. Those were the largest expenses. We also finished a framed in wall, painted and opened up the spaces. Redid lotsa tile work and floors, painted the outside and added new appliances. I actually re-did the cabinets myself. They were nasty 90's greasy cabinets. I cleaned them, we painted them with fancy (on clearance) paint and then used a glaze for an antique look. Then we staggered them and added crown molding. Changed the whole look. Cost about $200 bucks and 3 weekends.

Dear Brandon & Josh, 

I am happy to tell you that you were wrong! I have been listening to the BP podcast and hanging around here for almost a year now.  I was ready...oh so ready but those little words kept scaring me away "Most people lose money on their first flip". Well I am happy to tell you, I DIDN'T! (ok, we, but mostly I). I have been analyzing, advising and helping others with their real estate investments for a couple years now but I just finally jumped in and did my own end to end flip. YAYYYY.

I closed on the selling end of my first flip on Friday. It was an adorable little Old West Tampa bungalow. I (my llc and a partner) purchased it in September for 37k, spend 32k on rehab, 9k on closing costs/fees/commissions/taxes/holding costs. We purchased with cash and we sold it in February for 120k. Within 24 hours of the MLS listing we had two contracts. We accepted a full price offer with cash close and no contingencies. We had a backup offer for 124k. I know, I know, maybe I priced too low. After all was said in done, the deal made 42k before taxes.

We did it! I dreamed of this moment when I would be telling you all about it.  So as much as I cringed every time I heard "most people lose money on their first flip" I found so much inspiration in all the stories and the many times and ways you guys have said "take action" or "just do it."  

I should also note that I'm also a single mom, I work full time and volunteer for local animal rescues and charities.  After seeing all the feral cats and kittens in the area and my heart breaking worrying about them I also rescued, tamed and adopted out (to loving families) 7 kittens from 2 litters and trapped, spay/neutered and vaccinated 3 adult cats in the process. The neighbors were so happy to have help with them.  I'm sure it also helped the house to not have tons of feral cats everywhere.  

So if I can do it, anyone can do it!!

Oh, and I bought a rental, more on that next time. :) 

Union House (after photos)

Recently, I looked at a deal for a house that had a couple thousand in back taxes owed (no big deal) but a whopping 40K plus in homestead penalties.  

Here in Florida, on our primary residence we can get a 25-50K homestead exemption.  In this case, the owner had (presumably) lived in the house for many years, her husband died and several years later it appeared that she went to live elsewhere.  The home was vacant but the homestead exemption was not removed and was later realized by the tax department, and penalties, late charges and interest were levied and a lien was filed.  Title was acquired via tax deed but of course the tax penalty lien survived.  

Even paying off the liens, there still may have been room for profit but it was more than I was willing to take on at the time. However, I wondered if anyone has had luck negotiating down penalties like this before.  

These don't get sold in the regular tax sales. They just stick around and continue to charge interest.  Any guidance for next time?  

Thanks!

I am considering purchasing a property from an investor that was part of a "bulk purchase".  It seems that a handful of investment properties were quit claimed from a bankruptcy trustee to this investor for pennies on the dollar.  The investor is now "liquidating" these properties for more than what she paid, but far less than market value.  She is offering a Special Warranty Deed and claims they are free of liens etc.  

So when I try to do my own title search,  I see a mortgage that was not satisfied.  How can I tell if the mortgage was released as a part of the Chapter 7 proceedings.  I know the lien can carry to the new owner but how do I know it in fact did or did not without doing a proper title search? How do title companies resolve such questions? Do they go to the bank or to the trustee?

Any guidance would be much appreciated.  Thanks!